Cultures

by Xicat

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005MGKQ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 2, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,540 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Cultures is set hundreds of years ago in a small Viking village in Greenland. A cold rain pours for many weeks down on the village, and the people give up hope of a prosperous harvest. Hunger ensues, and consequently the population becomes bitter and depressed. They are given a glimpse of hope when they think they see the sun begin to shine through the clouds, but this is cruelly snatched away when it turns out to be a comet in the form of a huge ball of fire. The comet suddenly explodes into six pieces upon entering the atmosphere and tumbles down to earth, paralyzing the villagers with fear.

The objective of Cultures is to create a settlement--laying the foundations for a thriving colony--as you advance across your new home of America. You must prepare your tribe to soldier across the wilderness of this newly discovered continent: trading, uniting, and fighting until the six essential elements of the comet are retrieved. A thriving economy and powerful military will only achieve so much; success hinges on the player's ability to balance his or her wider strategic aims with the needs of individual members of the tribe.

In Cultures, the villagers depend on players from the moment they are born. Players must care for their health and wealth, give them tasks, and bring up their little ones, while always keeping an eye on their overall strategic goals. Plus, each and every one of the game's characters is unique. Visually, they have different hair, clothes, and physiques, but more importantly they are encoded with their own personalities--they have individual characteristics and talents. This gives them the ability to fully interact with other characters, as they marry, have their own children, and take on different jobs.

It's important for the player to acknowledge the unique qualities of the villages, as each and every one of the game's characters is important to the growth and welfare of the community. The game puts a new spin on the real-time strategy genre, opening it up to a wider audience. While the player undertakes 13 complex missions with multiple objectives, serious gamers will be guaranteed long-term gameplay. The intuitive control system and effective artificial intelligence ensure that even novice gamers will find instant gratification.

Product Description

Cultures is set hundreds of years ago in a small Viking village in Greenland. A cold rain pours for many weeks down on the village, and the people give up hope of a prosperous harvest. Hunger ensues, and consequently the population becomes bitter and depressed. They are given a glimpse of hope when they think they see the sun begin to shine through the clouds, but this is cruelly snatched away when it turns out to be a comet in the form of a huge ball of fire. The comet suddenly explodes into six pieces upon entering the atmosphere and tumbles down to earth, paralyzing the villagers with fear.

The objective of Cultures is to create a settlement--laying the foundations for a thriving colony--as you advance across your new home of America. You must prepare your tribe to soldier across the wilderness of this newly discovered continent: trading, uniting, and fighting until the six essential elements of the comet are retrieved. A thriving economy and powerful military will only achieve so much; success hinges on the player's ability to balance his or her wider strategic aims with the needs of individual members of the tribe.

In Cultures, the villagers depend on players from the moment they are born. Players must care for their health and wealth, give them tasks, and bring up their little ones, while always keeping an eye on their overall strategic goals. Plus, each and every one of the game's characters is unique. Visually, they have different hair, clothes, and physiques, but more importantly they are encoded with their own personalities--they have individual characteristics and talents. This gives them the ability to fully interact with other characters, as they marry, have their own children, and take on different jobs.

It's important for the player to acknowledge the unique qualities of the villages, as each and every one of the game's characters is important to the growth and welfare of the community. The game puts a new spin on the real-time strategy genre, opening it up to a wider audience. While the player undertakes 13 complex missions with multiple objectives, serious gamers will be guaranteed long-term gameplay. The intuitive control system and effective artificial intelligence ensure that even novice gamers will find instant gratification.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative and Complex, October 5, 2001

By 

Captn'Mac (Da Sea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cultures (CD-ROM)

This is not your ordinary strategy game; it is very complex, however the complexity is not without reason. The game provides so many outlets for discovery into what it offers its unbelievable. You can guide every single character to whatever occupation, mate, abode, and personal characteristics you want them to have. Doing this for a whole community allows you to refine your village to interact with itself in an equilibrium that will allow you to accomplish the goals of your mission.

The game-play is addictive, the graphics are beautiful, and the thought required to play is tantalizing. The vision behind this game has come through and makes it an enjoyable experience.

One other important item about this game is that appears it was actually tested, I have not had to download a patch and I have been error and bug free in both single and multi-player (LAN) forums of the game. This is to the Xicat's credit when so many games are neither tested properly or rely heavily on patches.

This game is worth the money.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complex and Addictive!, May 19, 2002

By 

Emily Reid (Red Hook, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cultures (CD-ROM)

Fantastic game! The graphics would normally be considered sub-par (especially when you zoom in) but if you factor in the sheer number of things happening at the same time, they're better than anyone could expect (even if some of them are sickeningly cute). The interface was different than I thought it would be. You can't directly control your Viking's surrounding or what exactly they do. However, this adds to the gameplay rather than detracking from it because there's always something going on. If you need Iron tools you have to build an Toolsmith's workshop and promote the Iron Smelter to become a toolsmith, the Iron Miner to become a Iron Smelter, and the Clay-Worker to become an Iron Miner. Oh yeah, and then you need someone else to take the Clay-Workers place.
Pros:
-Intrique technology tree
-Cute animation makes likable Vikings
-Hidden jokes and amusing fluff added by the creaters
-Easy interface

Cons:
-Long tutorials and beginners levels are a must
-Enemy tribes will never change their attitudes towards you
-Technology tree can be overly complicated and difficult

All in all a great game and the pros far outway the cons. I give it an enthusiastic five-stars!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cute game with characters you love, January 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Cultures (CD-ROM)

The characters are cute and lovable and the strategy is fun. I love the graphics on here. Because each character is different it's fun just seeing what people look like in your settlement. Although the tutorial is a little vague on how to trade, the rest of it is very helpful. If you use it first, it makes the game much easier to play.

If you like fighting, this game lets you train your men in spearsmen, archers, and swordsmen. If you just want to watch your villiage grow, you can either have the men learn on the job or build a school and learn from the men already skilled in that craft. The animals around each settlement are all cute and pose no danger to your settlers (even the bears and wild pigs.

This is a combination of The Sims, Civilization, and the Caeser/Pharoah series.